The Actionability of Terminology
I spend a fair amount of time on the road, often by my own choice. I find a peacefulness of being on the road (outside of the GTA of course), and often use highway as a time for reflection and pondering against the faint buzz of all-terrains on the tarmac.
A couple of weeks back, as I was making my way back to Kitchener-Waterloo from the first DesignChats event in London, I spotted a new “Text Stop” sign not unlike the one below.
These have been around for some time on US Interstates, but just recently I’ve seen them appearing on the 400 series routes in Ontario. This got me thinking about the progression of road signage, and how this is an indicator of adopting terminology and language for a changing audience.
In fact — this signage has been posted for years, simply under the alias of “Rest Stop”, designed to attract the attention of those feeling restless, fatigued, or needing fuel for their vehicle or themselves. Back then fatigue prevention was a deathly problem on the roads. Fatigue is still no joke, but there are new killers present today.
With distracted driving now one of the biggest causes of fatalities in Ontario, and across North America — even ahead of impaired driving — the concerns have shifted to putting down the ‘devices’.
Though these changes in terminology may be years behind (They should be reading “Gotta catch ’em all.. in 5 miles” to be truly up to date), this is still a reminder that just like in road safety and signage, we need to continually be considering what’s important in our product design work, as our audiences continually change, develop.
Beyond that, we need to be factoring in what language will connect with our audience. In the road sign example, these signs could still be left as ‘Rest Stop’ — but in all likely hood, most drivers wouldn’t consider that as a place to stop and answer their texts. We’ve been conditioned to associate ‘rest’ with taking a break, stretching, or taking a quick nap — not texting.
In design — we need to meet our users where they’re at, and provide language that correlates with their current understanding. This is apparent more and more in the education space, as pedagogy changes, so does the language around it.
Comparing the USA to just Ontario, the terminology can change drastically, and it has a clear impact on teacher’s understanding of the platform. What is considered a Standard in the USA, is considered a Curriculum Expectation here in Ontario. Though some teachers understand the interchangeability of the term, there are many who have been trained one way or the other. Displaying the other term injects significant confusion, which can lead to displeasure while experiencing the applications.
At Chalk.com we’ve been continually monitoring these language developments, and the disparity between regions of the world on what their understanding of different terms come to represent in their minds. It’s a fascinating opportunity, and this “Text Stop” sign is a great reminder of the importance of matching understanding of terminology to inspire action.
